More about Trust

In the comments of my last post J.A. Bennet shared this quote by John Green.

"Books are a weird collaboration between author and reader: You trust me to tell a good story and I trust you to bring it to good life in your mind.  I can only hope I held up my end of the bargain."

Thanks for sharing that! 

Several commenters also spoke of the balance we need.  Authors can be pushed by publishers or editors to make the book more mainstream, to meet deadlines, etc.  And it's true.  Authors can be under a lot of pressure, even so, we do need to maintain that balance that allows us to stay true to the story.  This also comes into play when you get conflicting feedback from beta or crit partners.

The readers that keep coming back are going to be the ones that trust us to do the best we can, even if it's not perfect. They trust us to care about the story as much as they want to care about it.  Trust can be a hard commodity to come by in this day and age, but hopefully we'll all be able to find some.

Let's Talk About Trust, Baby.

The reader writer relationship is all about trust.  When you pick up a book you trust the author is going to tell you a good story, one you'll enjoy (though definitions of 'enjoy' may change).  The reader has to trust the writer enough to spend time and money on that book.  But the writer has to trust the reader too.

The writer has to trust the reader to understand what's going on and not over explain.  They also have to trust that the reader is intelligent enough to notice when they didn't figure out all of the plot and tried to skip over glaring holes.

I can forgive plot holes and bad writing before I can forgive an author who saw the problem, and tried to fix it with a few sentences of an incomplete description.  Knowing the author was aware of the problem but didn't care enough about the reader to fix it can destroy the trust between a reader and a writer.

I'm Back!

Last week was an awesome, hot, sweaty adventure that involved way to many scorpions. One would have been too many and there were more than one.  Of course, I came home to a snake living over my back door so maybe the scorpions weren't so bad.  The best thing is that I didn't get a single tick!  This is completely amazing because of the number of ticks out there.  One girl at camp got eight in one day! 

I missed being around the blogosphere and can't wait to catch up with everything.  What did you do last week?

Have a great week!

I want to appologize to everyone who left comments lately, and to the author I interviewed, Sara, for not being around.  My computer crashed and has been down for most of the last four days. 

I'm taking off for girls camp.  I'll be back in a week when I've returned, scrubbed and been checked for ticks.  Happy week everyone!

Interview with Sara Walker

I'm here today to introduce you to the amazing Sara Walker and her new book CATCHING A SORCERER.

                         



Synopsis

Just weeks after a sorcerer killed her mother, fifteen year old Melantha is asked to help catch the killer. She wants nothing to do with it, but then she learns one of her classmates is the son of the sorcerer. Worried for her classmate, Mel agrees. With her spell-turner powers not yet developed the mission will be dangerous, but it will be downright deadly if the sorcerer figures out who she is and decides she will follow in her mother’s footsteps.




 I've read the book and it was a great read. The characters were interesting and well rounded, and while it was a fun read, the author still managed to discus some heavy topics such as forgiveness, loss and love. But I won't take up your time any longer, let's get to know Sara. (doesn't she have a great name?)

How long have you been writing?

I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't writing. I entered my first poetry contest when I was eleven-- it didn't win. It was pretty terrible. Throughout my elementary school years I always looked for writing opportunities, like the year of the school play. I was on the writing team and when the other members went on to starring roles, I remained as the writer making the revisions. One year I begged my English teacher to send me along with the enrichment kids to a bookmaking workshop. She said it wasn't exactly the kind of book making I was probably looking for, but she sent me anyway. I was so excited! 

As far as writing novels goes, I got serious about that sixteen years ago. Seems like a long time, but novels take a really long time to write, especially since I've always had a day job and kids around since I started. 

 I think a bookmaking workshop sounds fun. And day job will definitely slow things down. 

Do you feel more confident having published a book? Has having a book published changed the way you write?

If anything, I'm more nervous now that my work is out there, but I'm also excited that other people get to read it. I wouldn't say having a book published has changed the way I write at all, but I do notice that every time I finish drafting and revising a book to completion, I've learned many things, and that changes the way I write. 

Learning with each project is a very important part of writing, and I daresay, the sign of a good writer. 

Are you part of any real life or online writing groups?

Both. A long time ago I was active with the writing groups on Compuserve, but these days I'm active over at Kelley Armstrong's forum, and for the last few months I've been attending (and really enjoying) a local writing group.

I met you on Compuserve. :)

What was the inspiration for, or how did you come up with the idea for CATCHING A SORCERER?  

A few February's ago I was making carrot-orange marmelade, and along came this voice that started talking about a sorcerer that killed her mother and now she had to catch the sorcerer. I was writing something else at the time, so I took a few notes, but put off working on her story. That wasn't the end of her. Every now and then she'd come along and tell me another piece of the story. Finally, I gave up and wrote it all down. I wish I could say it was a great draft or easier to write for having percolated in my brain for so long, but the fact is, it was pretty terrible and I revised many, many times. 

 Seeing as how Mel’s mother and grandmother were Hearth witches I can see how you got the inspiration while cooking.

You’ve done a series of “cooking” posts where you talk about food in the books you’ve been reading.  Do you love to cook?  Have you been trained as a chef, or is it more of a hobby? 

Oh, gosh. I just love to eat! :) Thank you for remembering those posts! I should try to do some more. I do love to cook and bake, and wish I had more time for these things, but it's definitely a hobby. No chef training. I do occasionally watch cooking shows on TV.

 I’ve never watched a cooking show on TV but I do love to eat!

Is there an author or book that has inspired you to write?

Since I was a small child I knew I would be an author. When other kids were riding around on bikes, I was indoors or under a tree with a notebook and a pen-- when I wasn't reading, that is. So, no, there hasn't been an author or book that inspired me to write, but there are those that I find inspiring and I aspire to. 

That’s pretty awesome you’ve known from such an early age that you wanted to write.  I hope that surety has helped through the rough parts of writing.

If you could be any literary character for a day who would it be and why?

I think I would be Anne of Green Gables. I've always wanted red hair, and I would love to have seen PEI during her time period. (And I'm kind of in love with Gilbert!) 

 Who isn’t in love with Gilbert? 

What do you keep in your pockets and why?

My car key, because it's a fob with a key that comes out of it like a switchblade and it's much too bulky to put on a key ring and I always lose it in my purse.  

It does seem like car keys keep getting bigger and bigger. 

What is your favorite season?

I love spring and fall for the cool temperatures and brilliant colours.  

Fall is my favorite too.  

What do you have too much of?  Not enough of?

I have far too many freckles and never enough books. 

Never enough books!

 

Thank you very much for having me on your blog, Sara!

Thanks for stopping by!

About the Author

 My mother says I had an imaginary friend when I was two years old; I prefer to think of her as my first character. I’ve been creating characters and stories ever since.

When I’m not writing or reading, sometimes I play the bass guitar in a virtual rock band. I can often be found between the stacks of a local library.

 Sara Walker is a writer and book blogger. She is the founder of UrbanFantasyLand.net, a website established in 2008 that specializes in promoting urban fantasy and speculative fiction. Her articles and fiction have been published in anthologies and online.





Here's where you can find her book.


                             Amazon

                             Goodreads

                             Smashwords